Everyone can look and also touch
We have really been wrestling with the tension between the physical world and the world of ideas this semester. This week’s reading really solidified this issue as one of the primary concerns of the architect. Building for people is the perfect blend between implementing new practices, technology, and ideologies and actually building for everyday life. It’s funny because this is one of the main reasons I chose architecture as opposed to continuing on with philosophy. I felt extremely disconnected from other people and disciplines, very much situated in an ivory tower. I believe architecture is unique because it is so intimately intertwined with the tangible and intangible. Because of this fact, it is essential to regard the “everyday” as a serious part of the design process and a legitimate area of study. The work of architects, by its very nature, is not just for architects.
It's funny because as architects, we inherently create things that other people will touch because our buildings have programs for people, usually other than ourselves, but often we don't want anyone to "touch" it while it's still in the design phase. Only once we've created what we wanted to look at are the clients set loose to both look and touch. And the paradox within is that in the end, it's the architect who hardly ever even cares to touch... they are often completely satisfied with how their creation "looks." I think this is why Lee 3 is such a valuable teaching tool - we get to both look, with the eye of an architect, and touch with the feel of the user -- herein lies our complaints. It seems that "looks" aren't actually enough after all.
ReplyDeleteI like how you summarized the practice of architecture. It is always a mixture of theory and reality, which is a very tricky line to walk. Studying the "every day" and what it entails is sure to produce a beautiful AND functional building.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting because the first thing I learned in interior design was ergonomics, the psychology of color and how people move through spaces, and the effect of room sizes (ceiling heights as compared to the dimensions of the room), and how the disabled move through and understand spaces. And in nowhere in my architecture studies have I went into such depth in those studies, which I feel deeply affects how architectural space is understood. It is very difficult for me to design without considering the everyday activities that go on. I may not fully understand the profession, but I try to put myself in a teachers shoes, or a students shoes, or whoever's shoes I'm designing for.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I love architecture so much! It very much is a cross-disciplinary field and while we are "experts" in architecture, we still approach it in different ways based on our different backgrounds. That is one of the things I love most about the three year program is that our class comes from a variety of majors. We all specialize in different areas but can still design something unique and functional. I think it is so cool to see our different processes come through the architecture we create.
ReplyDelete